NEW ZEALAND FOOD HABITS

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21412, 2 March 1935, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND FOOD HABITS

AGAINST [ W OBESITY ECONOMICS ASSOCIATION iContributcd.J „«t many other criticisms of *£? z£Ud food habits, one ,tf STbeen made by courageous •*2Tif that our middle-aged citiboth sexes, but particularly that wc eat "not w, S el> * BO °«*te»ect ourselves, and see if I* ¥ is iust Are the fair * skrid-r arid willowy uV>- bulses? Do the of our former tennis players SjSSSd athletes tend to expand g£f&Symmetrical lines oi their vouth? Or do the majorand "fifties; begin •jfSßeform, for the over-bulky

Wv is not a good disease resister. Tis a safeguard against disease, as mB as for the sake of comfort and -warance, it is desirable that our SaJaTweigbt should not be permitted to become excessive. Do not run awav with the idea that mat stout person is a greedy one ftr obesity has not one but several underlying causes: Over-eating lack 4 exercise, physiological conditions, jKredilary constitutional diseases such u hypothyroidism, etc. Is" the treatment of obesity pro4md by too generous rations, two aethods are employed: '1; Reduction d the amount of food consumed with Mtoble change of type of food taken. Q\ Increased muscular work or exerok. The greatest success is attained tats both methods are used. Short cuts to weight reduction are is be avoided and quick reducing jeaedies are often dangerous. The i«Eiy sound principle of reducing is to frovide less calories or heat units than w require a day, for nothing will induce the weight while we continue to eal all the fattening foods our palate desires. One writer on dietetics says: "Old tie is a physiological condition rather fca an accumulation of years. Some w older at 50 than others at 80. I&aigh a man may not be "old" at I. it is likely that his muscular actey las decreased from what it was' tJO. He is more content to watch i'mhall game than take part in it; * takes his game of tennis more as tfflty than as a means of working off eplus energy; he walks where formerly he might have run. and too rtm rides when he might walk." This ta&ney to lessened muscular activity » acffispanied by a gradual slowing *? of the internal processes demand«f bid foods, and so with advancing WW the nee dof fuel diminishes. Appetite, however, may be as keen * w«f. The eating habits of an active jatfh are unconsciously followed, or

the increase' of wealth results in a more luxurious table and the palate leads far from the path of necessity often into dangerous ways. The tendency to increase in weight in many cases is a sure sign that the fuel intake is greater than the energy expenditure. What do we mean by this "fuel intake"? Various groups of foods have different uses in the body. Some food substances build muscle tissue, flesh; some build bone, some nerve tissue, some regulate body processes, some—the vitamins—promote growth, life, good health, and some yield- heat and energy. Now this last is the group we want to notice in relation to obesity, for if we take more of these foods—the starches, sugars, and fats —than we can use for the production of body heat and the energy needed for internal and external work, the surplus intake is converted into fatty tissue and stored for future use. A certain amount of fatty tissue is necessary as a reserve to use in times of shortage, sickness, and emergencies of effort and strain, but an excess amount is an unhealthy burden. Watch the scales and when a steady increase in weight is noted, then watch the stoking of the furnace. If the usual diet is a well balanced one—meat in moderation, fruit and vegetables in abundance, plus milk, whole cereals, eggs and cheese, with few rich foods, condiments or stimulants, then reduction is a matter of

quantity. Eat smaller amounts with thorough mastication to appease appetite, and take more exercise. On the other hand, if appetite has tricked us into taking too large an amount of rich and fattening foods such as pastry, rich puddings, cakes, scones, biscuits, sweets, chocolate, jams, rich sauces, fried food, fat meats, excess butter and cream, nuts, oily fish and sardines in oil, sausages, potatoes in large quantities, all condiments, and stimulants, then the diet will have to be changed to a well balanced one and also reduced in quantity. Another factor that must be taken into account is the unending strain of modern business and professional life. As the years bring the natural slowing up of physical powers we are conscious of needing something to whip up our flagging energy and we tend to jeat more in a vain endeavour to combat the tiring of the middle-aged body and brcin battling with modern-con-ditions. We do not need more food, we need more rest. An over-fed body is like an over-full fire-box. We do not get more heat and power, we get less. A good guide to the middle-aged to enable the fires of life to continue to burn briskly is:— (1) Fresh air in abundance. (2) Exercise. (3) Rest. (4) Water, inside and out. (5) The right foods in moderate quantities. (6) As far as possible avoidance of overwork and worry. If our "forties and fifties" can follow this then in the great majority of cases it will be unnecessary for visitors to New Zealand to suggest delicately or otherwise i.at we have a tendency to develop a "middle-aged spread" of figure. In a few years indeed, they may even be able to suggest that in New Zealand we have found the fountain of perpetual youth, for our middleaged will "r-new their youth like the eagle."